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Heraldry in the Arthuriad: a Brief Survey

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Heraldry in the Arthuriad: a Brief Survey Volume 6 Number 2 Article 2 4-15-1979 Heraldry In The Arthuriad: A Brief Survey Antoinette H. Brenion Ian Myles Slater Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Brenion, Antoinette H. and Slater, Ian Myles (1979) "Heraldry In The Arthuriad: A Brief Survey," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 6 : No. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol6/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract Examines heraldic devices of Arthur and several of his knights, attempting to “give probable religious meanings of each.” Accompanied by a bibliographic note by Ian Myles Slater. Additional Keywords Arthurian myth—Bibliography; Arthurian myth—Heraldry; Heraldry—Bibliography; Heraldry in Arthurian legend; Knights of King Arthur—Heraldry; Valerie Protopapas This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol6/iss2/2 H eraldry In The A rthuriad: A Brief Survey by Antoinette H. Brenion Among the varied strands in the Arthurian myth- which animal is depicted, the beasts may well be os is the visual one of devices by which the var­ lions with all their traditional symbolism: maj­ ious knights are recognized. The beasts and other esty, power, and kingship. symbols used on their shields indicate broadly the natures of the bearers, as well as suggesting fur­ ther symbolic meanings. In this paper I w ill try A crown is an obvious sign of royalty and sov­ to examine the devices of several of the knights ereignty. Heraldric crowns are basically gold and give probable religious meanings of each. circlets with patterns which represent the rank of the wearer. For a king, it is a plain gold band Heraldry has its own language, obscure to the with a floral motif gracing the decorative mould­ uninitiated; a brief overview of the basic terms ing. Two of Arthur's shields show crowns: one is and principles may be useful to some readers. red with three golden crowns, and the other is blue with thirteen golden crowns arranged in a pat­ The principal part of a coat of arms is the tern of 4, 4, 4, and 1. Thus King Arthur's shield. Some also include supporters (two figures shields symbolize, as would be expected, the pow­ holding the shield), helmet, crest, and the like (as er and majesty of his high station. in our own Mythopoeic coat of arms); but these are not relevant to the Arthurian mythos, which took One unexpected shield for Arthur is black with its rise in times when sim plicity was essential; a golden sycamore torn from the ground, its roots an armored knight's shield had to bear an easily exposed. Perhaps this represents Arthur when he recognizable device so that one could tell friend was in hiding before he ascended to the throne: a from foe in battle. man ignorant of and torn from his true ancestry. The field or ground of the shield is one of Often associated with the Arthurian mythos is three kinds: a colour, a fur or a metal. The col­ Sir Tristram (or Tristran, or Tristan), who, accord­ ors are five: blue (azure), red (gules), green ing to the oft-told story, drank a love-potion with (vert), black (sable), and purple (purpure). The Iseult (Ysolt, Isolde) of Ireland while escorting metals are gold (or) and silver (argent). Of the her to Cornwall to marry his uncle, King Mark, (for furs, the two principal ones are ermine and vair. whom the potion was intended). Most of the versions Ermine skin is white with a black tip to its derived from the early Anglo-Norman Tristan romance tail; the heraldric ermine is a white background by Thomas of Britain (c.1160-1180) assign the hero with black eyelashes scattered over it. Vair is a a golden lion, with some differences over the color squirrel-skin of blue-grey with a white under­ of the field. Gottfried von Strassburg, who based belly; it is conventionalized by inverted church- h is German v e r s io n ( c .1 2 1 0 ) on Thomas 's French te x t bell shapes of white on blue. (which is now extant only in fragments) replaced the lion with a boar, which fits some dream-symbolism The field is "charged," i.e. has a figure or which he incorporated in his version. The late Roger design on it. About twenty charges that appear Sherman Loomis suggested that Tristan's arms were in­ frequently, mostly abstract patterns, are called tended to compliment Thomas's king, Henry II of "ordinaries." These include the "chief," a horiz­ England. The lion was used in the arms attributed ontal division of the shield such that the top to Geoffrey of Anjou, Henry's father, and they were third is a contrasting kind; the fess, a wide hor­ certainly used Dy one of Henry's sons, Richard I izontal band taking up the middle third of the (Lion-Heart), but the date of their actual adoption shield; the bar, a diminutive of the fess, which is obscure. can appear in any part of the shield; the canton, a small square, one-third of a chief, in the upper In his commentary on the tiles illustrating left corner ("dexter" or right from the shield- Thomas's version, found in the ruins of Chertsey bearer's point of view); the quarter, which is just Abbey, Loomis pointed out that the Lion rampant (a what it sounds like, upper dexter. No metal may rampant beast stands on the left hind paw, its be placed on metal, or fur on fur, or color on body inclined upward about forty-five degrees, the c o lo r . right hind paw raised from the ground, the fore limbs Greatest of the knights is of course King Ar­ clawing the air in front of the head, and the tail thur, and the first one mentioned with a figure on lifted high and flexed) appears facing in different his shield in the early accounts. In Geoffrey of directions, depending on whether Tristan is receiving Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae , A rth u r's or striking a b lo w .' The balance of the evidence shield shows the Virgin M ary,"...a circular shield suggests strongly that Tristan's lion was the Lion called Pridwen, on which there was painted a like­ of Anjou, linking him to the English royal dynasty ness of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, which established by Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, forced him to be thinking( Historia, perpetually of her." but th a t i t c o u ld a ls o be c o n sid e r e d a common p erso n ­ p. 217) Another shield attributed to al symbol. As an example of the complexities in Arthur has a red ground with three golden leo­ the romance tradition, the Italian collection T a vo la pards arranged in a horizontal row. This is simi­ R i t o n d a , which otherwise follows Thomas's Tristan lar to the arms of England, with its three golden story closely, explicitly denies that Tristan used lions on a red ground. However, since it is diff­ a Lion, and assigns him other arms entirely, of un­ icult in the early drawings to determine exactly known origin or significance. 7 One of the most renowned of the Arthurian Another shield for Sir Agravain is very similar knights is Sir Lancelot, whose tragic love for Queen to Sir Gawain's third shield, with the main differ­ Guinevere led to the destruction of the Round Table, ence being the eagle's claws and tongue. It is a the final battle and the end of the kingdom. He is purple shield with a golden double-headed eagle, often depicted as the best of the knights. Sir but the eagle's claws and beak, as well as a circle Lancelot too uses a heraldric lion; one of his around each eye, are red. It is charged over all shields is black with a rampant silver lion in the with a green bar. The bar makes it distinctive center. Again, we have an indicator of his person­ since the claws, beak and eyes are not visible at a al courage and of his vassalage to Arthur._ Another d is t a n c e . shield is silver with three diagonal red lines, which may, as in many such, represent the Trinity. The vivid contrast of red and white suggests the passionate devotion and heroic courage associated with Sir Lancelot. In the Vulgate and related versions, Sir Gala- had is the son of Sir Lancelot.
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